April 28, 2008
Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation > Media Room > April 28, 2008

100% physician participation in Emergency Centre Campaign

Surrey, B.C. – Every full-time doctor at Surrey Memorial Hospital is contributing to the campaign to replace the hospital’s E.R. with a new state-of-the-art Emergency Centre.

The approximately 250 physicians are all donating to Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation’s $15 million Emergency Centre Campaign. “In my experience, 100% participation is unprecedented,” says Foundation President/CEO Jane Adams. “It is a remarkable gesture by the doctors and shows how dedicated they are to the community.”

Surrey Memorial Hospital physicians are pledging to the Emergency Centre Campaign by contributing through the hospital’s medical staff association and by making personal donations.

“Replacing the E.R. is something we all recognize needs to happen,” says the hospital’s Medical Director, Dr. Urbain Ip. “Increased space, an improved design, and the latest technology will assist physicians and other medical staff in delivering the best possible care to patients.”

Surrey Memorial Hospital’s current E.R. – the busiest in B.C. - was designed to handle about 44-thousand visits a year but has instead been seeing more than 70-thousand patients a year.

The new Emergency Centre, at triple the size of the current facility, will include a separate children’s E.R., as well as a separate mental health and addictions area, an enhanced minor treatment unit, and an improved area for acute patients.

The B.C. government has committed to funding the essentials of a replacement to Surrey Memorial Hospital’s current E.R. The Foundation’s $15-million campaign will ensure the new Emergency Centre is state-of-the-art.

-30-

For more information or interviews, contact:
Jason Howe
Public Affairs Director
Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation
604-585-5666 ext 8284
cell: 604-613-6873
jason.howe[at]fraserhealth.ca